CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University baseball team's offense came alive Saturday night, scoring a season-high 17 runs on 20 hits in a 17-2 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis at Itchy Jones Stadium.
"Tonight was a good team win," said head coach
Mike Kunigonis. "We have been waiting for this group to put together a complete game. It was nice to see the offense break through in a big way. We had many guys step up today."
The Huskies had scored a total of 34 runs in their first 12 games entering Saturday night. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for NIU. Six Huskies had at least two hits in the game, led by sophomore outfielder
Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) who was 4-for-6 with an RBI and three runs scored.
Josh Mutter (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North),
Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College), and
Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) each had three hits and combined for seven RBI.
NIU (3-10) struck first in the top of the second inning.
Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) led off the inning with a double to left centerfield. Smith followed with a single, advancing Lonteen to third. Mutter then reached on a bunt single, bringing in Lonteen for the game's first run. After an
Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) flyout, Drobushevich drove in both Smith and Mutter with a two-out single to make the score 3-0.
The Huskies scored two runs with two outs in the top of the third to extend their lead to 5-0. Rodriguez started the threat with a double. He then scored on a Drobushevich single, with Drobushevich getting to second base on an error by catcher Aiden McMahan. Drobushevich scored on an error by Nikola Vasic at second base that allowed Joyce to reach base. Joyce stole second base, but was thrown out at third to end the inning.
SIU (7-5) struggled early against NIU starting pitcher
Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry). The sophomore struck out seven Salukis in the first four innings, allowing one walk and one hit. The Huskies scored three more runs in the top of the fifth. Two of them came on a one-out Smith single that drove in
Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) and
Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North). Mutter then drove in Smith with a two-out single to spot NIU an 8-0 lead.
Lasiewicz allowed a run in both the fifth and sixth innings, finishing the night with a season-high 10 strikeouts while allowing two runs on three hits with four walks. The Huskies added six runs in the top of the seventh to take a 14-2 lead. Joyce drove in two with a single to left field. Two batters later, Dunham crushed a grand slam for his first home run of the year.
Ty Jandrowski (Kenosha, Wis./Madison College) also hit his first homer of the year Saturday night, a three-run blast that made the score 17-2.
"Lasiewicz was very good today and set the tone on the mound for us," Kunigonis said. "We need to carry this momentum into tomorrow's game and win a weekend series against a very good SIU team".
The rubber game of this weekend's series will start at 1 p.m. Sunday.
--NIU--
